How Great Was Ben Wallace?

I have always been a Celtics fan and I will always be, but the one team that I admired the most for the time I have been watching the NBA were the Pistons team from 2003-06. I loved their “No bullshit” style of play when win or lose you knew that they had left it all out on the floor. I loved them for being the losers nobody wanted and who were beating teams stacked with Hall of Famers. They represented everything I love about sports – the will to improve and get better through hard work and dedication, to win despite of all the setbacks you had to face, despite of what everyone said about you. The player that I liked the most from this team was Ben Wallace and even though he just resigned with the Pistons I am not mistaken when using “was” instead of “is”. Everyone who has been watching the NBA for the last 10 years can tell you that this is no longer the former defensive force that was an integral part of one of the greatest teams in the last decade.

Most of us have already heard his story – 10^th of 11 children in rural Alabama, going undrafted, then spending a couple of seasons as a bench warmer on the Bullets/Wizards and one season in Orlando playing some quality minutes before being traded to the Pistons for Grant Hill (a lopsided trade at the time). From then on he went on establishing himself as the best defender in the NBA for the last decade. And he made it all through hard work playing the most physical position in basketball and unlike players like for example David Robinson he did not exactly have the natural gifts for it. His official height is 6’7 and weighing 240 pounds – good for small forward, but center or even power forward – it seemed impossible. What this numbers don’t show is the size of his heart – the heart of a champion as Rudy T branded it 15 years ago. What is more Ben was not just good in patrolling the paint – he probably had one of the quickest hands and feet of any low-post defender in the league and this allowed him to be able to defend multiple positions which makes him part of a very elite group in the history of the league with one other fellow Piston coming primarily at mind – Dennis Rodman. And the Worm was mostly a great rebounder while Ben had a lot more rounded defensive game – Big Ben is the only player in NBA history to record 1,000 rebounds, 150 blocks, and 100 steals in 4 consecutive seasons (2001-04). He is also 1 of 5 ever to lead the league in both blocks and rebounds and he is certainly the shortest one as all the other four are 7 footers. What I find most remarkable is that for his physical play he has averaged only 2 fouls per game throughout his career! But instead of listing all the records he ever broke or equaled let’s look at his career defining moment.

No doubt about it that were the 2004 NBA finals and it is not like he had an easy job – he had to guard one of the most dominant and physically imposing men that have ever played in the league – his majesty Shaquille O’Neal. Everyone knows that stopping Shaq is impossible, but you can decrease his output and make him work for his points, foul more, decrease his minutes and that is exactly what Detroit did and they did it mostly because they had Ben. During the 3-peat from 2000-02 Shaq averaged 35.9 ppg (on .595 shooting), 15.2 rpg, 2.93 bpg, 3.53 apg, 0.66 spg, 3.13 PF, 3.13 TO and he accomplished this by averaging 44.26 mpg. His averages in 2004: 26.6 ppg (on .631 shooting), 10.8 rpg, 0.6 bpg, 1.6 apg, 0.4 spg, 4.4 PF, 2.80 TO and it is not like he was out of his prime or injured – he still averaged 42.6 mpg and only Kobe played more minutes than him. All of his stats are down with the exception of the turnover rate and field goal percentage and the improvements in both categories are insignificant! Yes it is true that Ben received a lot of help from Rasheed, Elden, and Okur, but still he was the one that spend most of the time guarding him (he averaged 40 minutes per game) and he did it without fouling out in any of the 5 games played as he averaged only 3 PF. In game 2 he came quite close as he had 5, but he still managed 43 minutes and recorded a double-double in a game that Detroit narrowly lost in OT. In the 2001 finals Shaq met the other 4 time DPoY in NBA history in Dikembe Mutombo and here is what he averaged then: 33 ppg, 15.8 rpg, 3.4 bpg, 4.8 apg, 0.4 spg, 4 PF, 4 TO in 45 mpg. As you can see the stats are overwhelmingly in Ben’s favor and both were coached by Larry Brown in their respective showings against Shaq. And who can forget his monster game 5 in which he had 18 points, 22 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 assist with 0 turnovers. Most importantly – Big Ben’s presence in the lineup allowed the Pistons not to double team Shaq and to guard effectively all of their other scorers. This is mostly visible by looking at their 3 point percentages: in 2002 it was .475%, in 2001 it was .480%, in 2000 it was .380% while in 2004 it was abysmal .247% and the only player other than Shaq to average double figures in points was Kobe! Chauncey Billups won the Finals MVP in that series and he thoroughly deserved it, but Big Ben was a very close second.

Many people point out his offensive lapses and his extremely poor free throw shooting which sometimes hurt the team (2006 Eastern Conference Finals), but still Ben was definitely a player you would like to have in the clutch. And by the way the only time when he averaged double figures in points were the 2004 and 2005 playoffs – a coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. His monstrous dunks and blocks quite often fuelled his teammates to a higher level of competition. We all remember his block on Shaq in game 5 of the 2006 ECF that fuelled his team to victory – yes they were eliminated in the next game, but whenever called for Ben delivered. Many people say that it was the Chauncey Billups trade that ended the Pistons dreams for a 4^th title, but for me it was the day that Ben left for Chicago. Detroit were still a terrific team, but their style was always based on physicality, toughness, and meanness and without Ben they just weren’t tough enough anymore. Joe D made great moves to keep the team competitive, but C-Webb and Nazr Mohammed were no Ben. After Ben left in the next 3 years the Pistons were 0-3 in elimination games while in the previous 4 they were amazing 11-3! Would have LeBron massacred Detroit the way he did in game 5 of the 2007 ECF with Ben in the lineup? Would have Detroit lost a 10 point 4^th quarter lead in game 6 of the 2008 ECF? Highly unlikely. I was heartbroken when he sold himself for 3 million a year more in 2006 to the Chicago Bulls as it was an all lose situation. Detroit lost half their toughness, while Wallace was no longer playing in a system that covered his offensive lapses. He got his revenge on Miami in the 2007 playoffs, but that was as good as it got. It was as if the basketball Gods wanted to punish him for leaving Detroit as injuries started to mount up, playing time decreased and at the end he suffered the indignity of being a bench warmer for Zydrunas Ilgauskas(no offence to the dude, but he has the body of a center and the heart of a squirrel). Last season he had a bit of a renaissance back in Detroit, but we should not fool ourselves – his glory days are over. Let’s just hope that he passes his knowledge to the newly drafted Greg Monroe because it is a disgrace of watching such a great franchise out of the playoffs come May.

Is he going to make it to the Hall of Fame? Even though it is something I would like to see it remains highly doubtful. Despite of his 4 DPoY awards (should have been 5), 5 All-NBA team selections, 6 All-NBA defensive team selections, and 4 All-Star berths, and great Cinderella story as an undrafted player it is hardly going to happen as getting there is mostly about flash and image and even in Detroit after his move to Chicago he is not very liked. Defensive masters rarely get inducted with the exception of few notables like Bill Russell and Big Ben is nowhere near his 11 championships. His lack of offensive game is not likely to be left unpunished by the people who make the selections and in fact I will be surprised if any of the 2004 Pistons make it to the HOF. And it’s a shame.